Too often donors and volunteer fund raisers think of charitable gifts only in terms of cash and other liquid assets, says Laura Hansen Dean, executive director for gift planning at the University of Texas at Austin.

But in these tough economic times that needs to change, said Ms. Dean at a session in Denver of the annual conference of the National Committee on Planned Giving.,

Before beginning a capital campaign, Ms. Dean recommends an organization review and revise its policies for accepting gifts. Even though a significant proportion of the country’s wealth is tied up in real estate or in closely held business interests, most charities’ policies discourage gifts that don’t come in the form of cash or securities, she said.

Ms. Dean also emphasized the importance of working with consultants that value planned gifts as an integral part of a campaign rather than as a “consolation prize” that comes at the donor’s death, and of involving planned-gift fund raisers in screening and rating prospective donors.

She also recommends setting targets for the percentage of the campaign goal that will be achieved through planned gifts and investing time in training volunteers to look for planned-gift opportunities when meeting with donors.

In the future, said Ms. Dean, major gifts will increasingly be blended gifts that may combine outright gifts of cash with gifts in the form of annuities, ownership of a business interest, or charitable remainder trusts.

Last week, the University of Texas at Austin announced its own $3-billion capital campaign. Ms. Dean anticipates that $1-billion of the campaign goal will be raised through planned gifts.

— Paula Wasley